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Saturday, November 13, 2010

The former Prime Minister of Canada has claimed that former Liverpool owner Tom Hicks was subjected to a "character assassination" during last month's takeover. New England Sports Ventures (NESV) won the right to replace the Texan and business partner George Gillett at the Anfield helm but Brian Mulroney has accused the British media and business community of attempting to discredit Hicks in "an environment akin to a witch-hunt". Former chairman Martin Broughton along with commercial director Ian Ayre and then managing director Christian Purslow fought tirelessly in the High Court to see sanctions brought by Hicks and Gillett against NESV's takeover successfully lifted. But Mulroney, writing in yesterday's edition of The Times, claims that the current British Airways chief "took [Hicks's] asset against his will and devalued the club in a fire sale". Mulroney, who was Prime Minister of Canada between 1984 and 1993, is considered a friend of Hicks and branded the treatment of him as "truly disturbing". He claims that former owners Hicks and Gillett "dramatically increased the value of the club through considerable investment" and hired "a World Class manager" in Roy Hodgson as part of their increased spending on transfers and first- team personnel. After being defeated in London's High Court, Hicks is planning to take his case back to the courtroom prompting Mulroney's final parting shot, which asks: "how such a travesty of justice could have occurred in England, the birthplace of fundamental justice".